Meet the Web Platform Companion Guide

Last updated 3/13/12

The web platform is composed of a large collection of interoperable standards that represent a solid foundation for building powerful apps. New standards are born on the cutting edge, where various organizations experiment with new capabilities. Those capabilities that capture the imagination of the broader community may eventually become a formal part of the web platform.

The demos in the Meet the Web Platform videos show a few examples of some of the cool stuff you can do on the cutting edge of the web platform. Not all of these capabilities have been standardized yet, some only work in Chrome today, and some are still actively being implemented in Chrome. This guide serves as a companion to the videos, providing more context on each demo and the technology that powers them.

Building on Foundations

Web Components

Implementation status: Shadow DOM, a core foundational piece of Web Components, is available in Chrome 19+ behind the Shadow DOM flag. Other bits will be implemented in the near future.

On the Cutting Edge

WebCam

Implementation status: implemented in Chrome 18+, requires enabling "Enable MediaStream" in about:flags. Note: as of this writing there are no security checks in place for access to webcam yet; do not browse untrusted sites with that flag enabled. Security UI will be landing in Chrome 19 for all platforms.

Cross-browser support: Implemented in Opera and being implemented in Firefox